Cogito, Ergo Sum
by Luna Cat Kitty
Summary: What if everything you knew turned out to be a dream formulated by your innermost desires and fears, and it was those thoughts that created the world you thought you lived in? Iroh finally wakes up from a dream he believed he lived for years.


**Cogito Ergo Sum. Latin for I think, therefore I am.  
>For all we know, our reality could just be a dream. For all we know, we could be five years old just dreaming about nonsense.<br>This comes from paying too much attention in Philosophy Class.  
><strong>**Honestly, I have no freaking clue why I wrote it. lol**

**Summary:  
><strong>**I think, therefore I am. What if everything you knew turned out to be a dream formulated by your innermost desires and fears, and it was those thoughts that created the world you thought you lived in? Iroh finally wakes up from a dream he believed he lived for years.**

**I own nothing.**

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><p>Iroh looked around to the youths that were standing around the small table. He looked at the young Water Tribe warrior hold up a painting of the group that he made. Sokka pointed out everyone and who, or what they were supposed to be. He pointed to a picture of a large ball with fuzz and motioned to Iroh.<p>

He couldn't help but laugh. "My belly isn't that big anymore." A chorus of laughter followed. "I've really trimmed down." More laughter erupted from the group.

"Hey, where are Katara and Aang?" Sokka looked up to the group and then around the room.

Everyone looked around the second floor of the teashop and saw nothing. Iroh felt a nudge and looked to see Toph. A toothy grin crossed her face as she motioned to the balcony. Sokka grumbled and started calling out to them. He grumbled as he marched out to the balcony. Soon a sound of surprise could be heard, following by arguing. Toph let out a haughty laugh as she walked towards the balcony. The rest of the ragtag group followed and couldn't help but laugh at Katara and Sokka's squabbling with the poor Avatar in between them.

The Dragon of the West walked back into the small but private kitchen to begin another pot of tea. He dug through a drawer of odds and ends to find the proper ingredients for tea. Iroh came across a portrait of his son, Lu Ten and smiled to himself. He pulled out the needed supplies and gently closed the drawer. He heard a crashing sound and looked out the doorway to see Toph laughing and pointing at Sokka who was sprawled on the ground, as Mai and Katara tried to set the table upright. Iroh looked over to see Zuko and Suki play Pai Sho as Aang watched.

The comfortable room began to glow with the light from the fireplace as the sky above the Impenetrable City darkened. Iroh brought out the newest batch of tea once everyone was settled down and he knew that no more tables would be knocked over. Everyone looked over to him and took their cup gratefully and thanked him. He smiled as they drank the delicious tea. Soon the group disbanded and made their way back to the house the Earth King gave them. He was eventually alone in the silent teashop. He put out the fire and soon the room darkened. Iroh looked outside to see the lights of the city glowing merrily before going to bed.

The Great War was finally over and the world was in balance one again.

Iroh woke up feeling more famished than he remembered. His eyes were still closed as he wondered why he was so exhausted. The comet passed only a little over a week ago, but even after that he didn't feel as tired and exhausted as he did now. He remembered that he didn't do much the day before. The teashop was closed the previous day. Zuko, Aang, and their friends were there, but no one else was. Iroh turned over, hoping to get over the sudden wave of exhaustion.

The more awake and aware he became, the more something seemed to have been wrong. The room smelled more earthy and musky than it should, and the bed wasn't nearly as soft. Iroh came to the sleepy conclusion that he must have slept wrong the night before, and that it must have rained and he left a window open. He heard something behind him and shrugged it off.

"General?" A lighter voice came from behind him.

No one has called him General for some time, so it took a few seconds for him to register that they were referring to him. Iroh groggily opened his eyes. He immediately noticed that the wall across from him was red and not green. He also noticed that the wall itself was more of a fabric than a solid structure.

"General?" The voice sounded again.

It sounded eerily familiar to Iroh, but he couldn't put his finger on which the voice belonged too. He was too preoccupied as to why his teashop got an unexpected makeover and how he even slept through it. The _retired_ General stared dumbly at the wall made of fabric.

The voice spoke once again. "Father?"

Iroh's eyes shot open. He sat up quickly, ignoring the slight soreness that shot through his body. A sudden spell of dizziness washed over him as he sat hunched over his bed. He rubbed his temples to try to coax the oncoming headache away. Iroh felt a mass kneel beside him and turned his head to face it. He noticed the familiar golden eyes that shared a likeness to his own. He blinked as his eyes began to focus on the face of the person kneeling besides him. As they adjusted the face became clearer. He immediately knew the person who was before him.

"Lu Ten!" Iroh said with surprise. He couldn't believe that his son was kneeling next to him in his teashop. "You're alive!" He quickly embraced the young man in a bear hug. "You're alive." He said again.

Lu Ten gave Iroh an awkward pat. He pulled away trying to recover from the surprise hug. "Why wouldn't I be alive?"

Iroh stared blankly at his living son. "But you died! At the siege! During the war…"

Lu Ten raised an eyebrow. He poked himself and looked back to Iroh. "But I'm alive… and we're at the siege."

Iroh blinked in confusion. No. He had to be wrong. The siege ended years ago. The war was over. He saw it with his own eyes. He could feel the comet's power when it passed. "The siege ended seven years ago. Ba Sing Se was liberated from the Fire Nation only over a week ago."

"Uh…" A dull sound came out of Lu Ten's mouth. "Are you sure you're feeling ok? The Fire Nation has never broken through the Inner Wall. Last week was when we broke through the Outer Wall…" He put a hand on Iroh's shoulder as to comfort him.

"Broken through the…" Iroh became lost in thought as he haphazardly put on shoes and an outer robe.

He noticed that he wasn't in his shop in the Upper Ring, but in a tent. Iroh opened the tent flap and noticed a bunch of other similar tents bundled together to make an encampment. Iroh quickly noticed two Imperial Firebenders standing at attention on both sides of the entrance of his tent. He looked off to the distance to see the massive gap in the Outer Wall. Iroh quickly retreated back into the tent and ran right in to Lu Ten.

Iroh rubbed his head in confusion. This wasn't right. Only the day before Iroh was in the Upper Ring serving tea to Zuko and his friends. Now he was in his tent at the siege with his son, who should be dead. Nothing made sense.

"How many days have we been here, Lu Ten?"

Lu Ten sighed and took a few seconds to think. "This will be our six hundredth day here. You planned to have our forces advance towards the Inner Wall."

Iroh's eyes widened. "Oh no…" He couldn't believe it. It had to be a dream. "The Fire Lord is Azulon, correct?"

Lu Ten stared blankly at Iroh. "Yeah… Are you ok? You seem… Off…" Lu Ten stepped towards Iroh.

"But… Zuko should be Fire Lord…"

"Father." Iroh looked up to see a very concerned Lu Ten looking at him. "Zuko's only ten. It'd be impossible for him to be Fire Lord. He's not even in line for the throne."

"No… This has to be a dream." Iroh looked up to Lu Ten. "I'm dreaming." He gave Lu Ten a gentle shake. "It's just a dream…"

"You're not dreaming… Father…"

Iroh held his head to try to make sense of everything. "This has to be a dream. The siege was seven years ago. You..." Iroh could bear to say it. "You died on the six hundredth day…" Iroh paused as Lu Ten looked at him with concern. "Ozai became Fire Lord… Zuko was banished… Zuko should be Fire Lord now, not Azulon…" Iroh tried to piece the events together…

"That sounds like an impressive dream, but…" Lu Ten stopped.

Iroh paced around the tent, still trying to string the events together, but to no avail. "It was too detailed to be a dream…" He mused. "The Avatar returned… The war was over…"

Lu Ten frowned and led Iroh to a chair. "Are you sure you want to go on with the attack? You seem to not be feeling well…" He gently sat a bemused Iroh down as he spoke. "I'm sure that the men won't object."

"This has to be a dream…"

Lu Ten frowned. "Do you want me to get Admiral Jeong Jeong? Perhaps to move the attack to another day that is more… Appropriate?"

"Jeong Jeong." Iroh mused to himself. He remembered how worn out Jeong Jeong was at this point in the siege. He remembered when the Navy came to lend them their support and how Jeong Jeong said things that he thought were wrong at the time.

Lu Ten quietly stepped out of the tent. Iroh finally concocted a plan in the temporary silence. He knew the events that were to follow. Even if it was just a dream, he didn't want to lose Lu Ten. A nagging thought entered his mind. He remembered how nervous and stressed he was on the final day of the siege, and how that coupled with Lu Ten's death caused him to give up the siege. Perhaps all the events from the six hundredth day to a week after the war ended were a longwinded dream. Just the thought of seven years of his life being a dream baffled him. For all he knew, no one existed. Katara, Sokka, Toph, Aang, all of them could've been some illusion caused by his brain. Caused by piecing together all the worst possible scenarios.

Or he could simply be dreaming. He could still be lying asleep in his bed in the Upper Ring above his teashop.

The sound of footsteps came closer to the tent. Iroh looked up to see Lu Ten standing by Jeong Jeong. Iroh remembered the haunted look in his friend's eyes towards the end of the siege, and noticed that the look still remained.

After a long conversation, Iroh reluctantly agreed to continue the siege. Just for his sanity's sake. The only thing he changed was where Lu Ten was stationed. He didn't want to go through that pain again, even if it was only a dream. The siege continued on as he expected it too. Mass casualties and over half of his army was wiped out. There was only one less death, and that was Lu Ten, who was still beaten and battered from the final battle.

Even with Lu Ten alive and slightly bruised, Iroh saw no reason to continue the siege. The deaths weighed down on him more this time than the first. He knew what would happen, but did next to nothing to change it. Things occurred like they did before. He surrendered and went home along with his battered army. This time around he didn't look like a weakling who lost his son, but a benevolent man who cared for his army. The thoughts were the same though. Some thought he was benevolent, and others thought he was a coward.

Iroh was relieved when night fell. He was exhausted and hoped with all his heart that it was a dream. He hoped that he would wake up in his cozy teashop.

Morning came and Iroh eagerly opened his eyes, eager to tell Zuko or someone of the strange dream he had that night. He expected things to be as they should. His eyes adjusted to the surroundings. He was once again in his tent and saw a still alive Lu Ten sleeping soundly on the other side of the small space. Iroh sighed. A part of him was relieved, but another part was saddened. When morning came, he sent Lu Ten home with a warning to watch his step around Ozai. Iroh did what he did before. He traveled the world and eventually met the people that would soon be his allies towards the end of the war. He secretly became part of the Order of the White Lotus.

Iroh learned of an old saying from the Air Nomads. I think, therefore I am. For some reason, that saying finally answered the question of Iroh's dream the night before the final day of the siege.

He returned home to the same results, even if they happened differently. Ozai was once again Fire Lord and Ursa disappeared the night that Azulon died. A small smiled graced Iroh's face once he heard the news. Even though events changed, destiny still played its hand. A few years passed and Zuko was once again scarred and banished after Iroh tried to stop him from going to the meeting in the first place. Soon Zuko, Iroh, and Lu Ten were on a ship destined to sail until the Avatar was rediscovered. He had a feeling that inside an iceberg, a boy slept, waiting for the appropriate time to awaken once again.

Iroh wasn't the least bit surprised when he saw a beam of light shoot up into the sky while in the Southern Water Tribe.


End file.
